Major Bird Flu Disaster in the Works
Bird flu is spreading out of control. In the 14 days since a suspected case of bird flu was reported in Gimje, North Jeolla Province on April 1, 35 poultry farms in North and South Jeolla provinces have been confirmed to have had their entire stocks of ducks or chickens wiped out. And the route of infection in a bird flu case in Yeongam, South Jeolla Province has yet to be ascertained. That means there is a source of infection and a path of transmission which authorities have been unable to pinpoint. Under these circumstances, there are fears that chicken and other poultry farms will be wiped out.
A weak link in the government's quarantine system has been exposed. One duck farm located just 1.7 km away from the infected farm in Gimje is said to have secretly sold its poultry to a distributor between April 4-6, even though a ban had been placed on the transport of chickens and ducks in the area since April 2. This dealer carried the ducks on his truck through six different cities, including Jeonju, Jeongeup, Buan and Iksan, selling them to restaurants. Some of those ducks sold to a restaurant in Gimje tested positive for avian influenza. It appears quarantine officials simply put up transport ban signs but did nothing to enforce it.
Experts believe a mutated form of the bird flu virus may have emerged this time, as the spread of avian influenza is showing no signs of abating even though temperatures are rising to almost 20 degrees Celsius. Authorities must pay very close attention to this observation. The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on Monday expanded the range of farms subject to mandatory culling from a 3-km radius from an infected site to 10 km. Judging from the momentum with which the virus is spreading, this measure should have been enforced much sooner. Authorities have been dealing with the situation in a very easy-going manner. There is said to be a severe shortage of workers at the sites where chickens and ducks are being culled. The entire public, not to mention government workers in related ministries, needs to come together to deal with this situation.
If this virus is a mutation that can be harmful to humans, then the situation takes on a whole new dimension. Out of 379 confirmed cases of human infections of the bird flu virus reported in 14 countries around the world, 63 percent or 239 have died. Advanced countries have stockpiled enough of the treatment Tamiflu to administer to 10 to 20 percent of their populations. But Korea has stockpiled enough for just 2.6 percent of its population or just 1.4 million people. Korea has secured no supplies of a preventive vaccine in the event of a pandemic. The government must brace for the worst-case scenario
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200804/200804150023.html
Bird flu is spreading out of control. In the 14 days since a suspected case of bird flu was reported in Gimje, North Jeolla Province on April 1, 35 poultry farms in North and South Jeolla provinces have been confirmed to have had their entire stocks of ducks or chickens wiped out. And the route of infection in a bird flu case in Yeongam, South Jeolla Province has yet to be ascertained. That means there is a source of infection and a path of transmission which authorities have been unable to pinpoint. Under these circumstances, there are fears that chicken and other poultry farms will be wiped out.
A weak link in the government's quarantine system has been exposed. One duck farm located just 1.7 km away from the infected farm in Gimje is said to have secretly sold its poultry to a distributor between April 4-6, even though a ban had been placed on the transport of chickens and ducks in the area since April 2. This dealer carried the ducks on his truck through six different cities, including Jeonju, Jeongeup, Buan and Iksan, selling them to restaurants. Some of those ducks sold to a restaurant in Gimje tested positive for avian influenza. It appears quarantine officials simply put up transport ban signs but did nothing to enforce it.
Experts believe a mutated form of the bird flu virus may have emerged this time, as the spread of avian influenza is showing no signs of abating even though temperatures are rising to almost 20 degrees Celsius. Authorities must pay very close attention to this observation. The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on Monday expanded the range of farms subject to mandatory culling from a 3-km radius from an infected site to 10 km. Judging from the momentum with which the virus is spreading, this measure should have been enforced much sooner. Authorities have been dealing with the situation in a very easy-going manner. There is said to be a severe shortage of workers at the sites where chickens and ducks are being culled. The entire public, not to mention government workers in related ministries, needs to come together to deal with this situation.
If this virus is a mutation that can be harmful to humans, then the situation takes on a whole new dimension. Out of 379 confirmed cases of human infections of the bird flu virus reported in 14 countries around the world, 63 percent or 239 have died. Advanced countries have stockpiled enough of the treatment Tamiflu to administer to 10 to 20 percent of their populations. But Korea has stockpiled enough for just 2.6 percent of its population or just 1.4 million people. Korea has secured no supplies of a preventive vaccine in the event of a pandemic. The government must brace for the worst-case scenario
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200804/200804150023.html
